Cultural Diversity, Migration, and Education

Migration is a key aspect of diversity in many of our classrooms and communities. While migration is not a new phenomenon, in the past few years an unprecedented number of individuals have experienced forced migration. Notably, 51% are under the age of 18 (UNHCR, 2016), making migration a critical issue for child development in the 21st century.

Although migration can afford opportunities and environments to thrive and develop new competencies, there remain significant risks for marginalization and oppression that disadvantage migrant and refugee youth. The success of these children in education, work, and society is crucial not only for them as individuals, but for society as a whole.

The aim of our conference is to better understand how cultural diversity and issues related to migration are potential resources that contribute to children’s positive educational experiences and promote school success.

In July 2016, funded by the DFG (German Research Foundation), we successfully held an international conference on this topic with about 150 attendees from 21 different countries. Because of growing refugee populations in classrooms and schools, we would now like to highlight research with refugee children (in addition to research with ethnic minority and migrant background youth) and potential protective factors (such as school-based interventions) that promote more positive development.

We welcome submissions from graduate students and professionals from across disciplines, including education, psychology, sociology, migration studies, and related fields.

A big thank you to the students who volunteered their time and energy during the days of the conference: Sharleen Pevec, Paolo-Francesco Cercola, Carsta Schulze, Semra Shakira, Chen-Rui Chao, Alexander Zeydentreger, Pelin Calisir, Lisa Lehmann & Laura Hunger Santiago